Evolve and Conquer
by blingblingchristine
Summary: They were a team–they were the team. The most sought out pair on the island. Everything was perfect. The Grady's were finally living the dream. But dreams only last so long. Eventually you have to wake up. And when a monster is set free, they must all learn to adapt. They must evolve. And then they can conquer.
1. Welcome to Jurassic World

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my new story! I've been working on this first chapter for about a week now and-hopefully-I've got it down pretty good. If you're new to my stories then hello again! If you're a fan of my other story, Carry On, it's nice to see you again lol. Anyway, I'm going to try to change things up a bit with this story. Try to make one villain more of a villain then he ended up being in the movie. But I could go on for a very long time about my thoughts on the movie/this story so I won't and let you get to reading! Check out my tumblr page, prettypanda117 .tumblr. com (Just take out the spaces!) Alrighty! Enjoy the story :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Jurassic Park characters...I only own Danica...**

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The weather here was never good. It was always too hot, too humid, or not cool enough. The heat would make you sweat profusely. The humidity just made everything feel sticky and like the air was far too thick. And on days when the temperature would drop, you could hardly feel the difference because the sun was beating down on you or it had rained the night before and it just made everything worse. The most a person could do was silently seethe and curse the weather while trying to look like spending four years on this island had been plenty of time to get used to the ungodly weather. It could put a typically cheery person in a rather salty mood if the conditions were right.

And boy were those conditions set perfectly today.

The problem however, was that today she was supposed to be in a good mood. Someone very important needed her support because he was about to do something extremely important.

With that in mind, Dani decided it best to stand by herself and watch the workers set everything up. She could–should be helping. But she was starting to get to the point of stress that she just did not want to deal with. We're talking nail biting, hair pulling, and binge eating stress. And Owen had just got a supply of Rocky Road ice cream for the paddock too…

"Man, I can't wait to see this." The rather unfortunate part of today would be the new faces that suddenly appeared today. Gawkers. Dani rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses and began tying her long hair into a messy bun. She leaned against the railing of the catwalk, watching the ground below like something might happen. But the girls wouldn't be released for another few minutes. Not until Owen was ready and she gave the go-ahead. Dani tried to ignore the man standing a few feet away from her. He took up the same stance as her, leaning against the railing with his arms crossed over the top. Dani chewed the end if her pen and pretended to read what she had on her metal clipboard. When all she really had was a legal pad filled with observational notes and a few doodles. She felt his eyes on her. What was his name again? Hoskins. Dani flicked her eyes to him and saw he was grinning like an excited child. She almost rolled her eyes again. Typical. No one cared about the science, they only ever cared about the show and pizzazz. But apparently this guy had found something else to gawk at. She could feel his eyes roaming over her bare legs and arms and suppressed a disgusted shudder. "You here to see the show too sweetheart?"

"Danica." She quickly snapped at him, standing to her full height and facing him. "My name's Danica, and I'm not your sweetheart."

Hoskins chuckled. _Great, let me guess, he likes my "spirit"._ She could see the sweat beading on his skin and frowned. Fake tan, of course. He looked almost orange to her. But he was tall and built with thick forearms and rough, calloused hands. Army man most likely. Dani knew his type all too well. Hoskins turned to fully face her and grinned. "Well then, Danica, are you here to see the show too?"

Dani shrugged, "In a way. I'm here to observe, take notes and lend assistance should it be needed." She turned back to the railing and crossed her arms, her clipboard dug into her side but she ignored it.

"Oh, so you work here in the boys club?" Hoskins gestured around to the men moving back and forth across the grounds. Dani had to give him that. She did work in a predominately male environment. But that never phased her for a second. Hoskins chewed his lip, "It must be hard for a…pretty little girl like yourself to work around here."

"I'm a full-grown woman—thank you." Dani snapped at him again, turning to fully face him. "And no, it really isn't that hard, especially when my husband is technically everyone's boss." Her face scrunched up for a moment and she added, "And when I'm technically my husband's boss so…"

She trailed off and left the conversation open. Hoskins paused and then Dani saw his eyes finally fall to the ring around her finger. "You're…Grady's wife?"

"Danica Grady—nice to meet you." Dani smiled and pulled off her sunglasses, folding them over her tank top. "Now, if you don't mind, my husband needs my help before we start."

With that she turned and walked across the catwalk to the other side of the paddock. Owen wasn't there yet—of course. But she found Barry and quickly joined him. "Please tell me Owen is ready to start." She let Barry give her a side hug and continued, "These InGen guys need to get their asses off my paddock."

Barry chuckled, "He was in his office last I checked. Although he seemed a little nervous. Perhaps he needs some encouragement from his beautiful wife?"

Dani started to move but stopped. Owen had finally decided to join them. He came up the steps two at a time, his mouth set into a firm line. God but he was handsome. Seven years and Dani would still never be able to not lose her breath at the sight of him. He'd changed his shirt. Now he was wearing something relatively clean and not sweat stained. His hair was a tousled mess but it was perfect. Except…

"Your vest is all screwed up." Dani commented, stepping up to Owen and beginning to readjust the grey vest on his shoulders. She busied herself with the vest and then moved to his shoulders, swiping away dirt and smoothing out any wrinkles.

"Thanks babe." Owen grinned down at her before bending to kiss her forehead. He didn't move though. He stood still and kept his eyes on Dani for a moment longer. He was…

"Nervous?"

Owen scoffed. "Me? Nervous?" Large, warm hands fell to her waist while he shook his head. But that didn't faze Dani. Her face went still, her brow lifting up slightly. Just a few more seconds, Dani thought smugly. Owen had never been able to lie to her and today was going to be no different. After another half second of her husband trying—and failing—to avoid her eyes, he finally caved. Owen's shoulders slumped and the grip on Dani's waist slackened a bit. "It's Charlie. You saw how she was yesterday—you even took three pages of notes on her." He nodded to the clipboard tucked beneath her arm and continued, "I'm just…afraid that Charlie will be Charlie today."

Dani chuckled. She never thought she'd see the day when Owen Grady would get nervous because of a raptor. Mostly because raptors shouldn't even be _alive_ but they were now so there was no turning back on that. But also because Owen only ever got nervous around his wife, and it was rare to see him show vulnerability in front of other people. "Owen," She spoke up, placing her hands over his chest. Her fingers started to stroke tiny circles against the fabric over his heart, and she watched him visibly relax at her touch. "Yes. Charlie was being a bit of an ass yesterday. But," she gently poked his shoulder, "you were able to get her back in line."

A small grin formed on his lips. "Because I'm the alpha." He sounded proud and confident again. There he is, Dani thought smiling back at him.

"Correct big guy." Dani idly readjusted his vest while she continued, "And besides, if things do get completely out of hand, I'll step in. The girls will listen to me."

Owen's face scrunched up, "Why? You're not the alpha." He watched Dani lick her lips, watched a bead of sweat fall down her neck and disappear into her tank top. Her skin was bronzed and glistening. She had little to no make-up on, as was her usual choice. She smelled like the sunscreen she put on every other hour. It reminded him of simpler times. Hawaii and the beaches, early morning hikes and late afternoon swims.

A playful smirk graced Dani's face. One of her hands moved until her fingers were touching the skin of his exposed collar bone. "That's not what you said last night." She winked at him, "Big guy."

 _God damnit._ Owen inwardly cursed. Why did she have to bring that up now of all times? He could not—and definitely should not—be thinking about sex before he has to put on this exercise for everyone to see. Owen sucked in his bottom lip and bit down hard. He kept trying to think about everything _but_ the crazy good sex he'd had with Dani last night. The problem, was that Dani knew he was trying not to think about it. And she knew that he knew. Now his pants were starting to get a little tight.

"Okay…" Owen cleared his throat—a bit too loudly—and stepped away from his wife before he decided to call off the exercise and take Dani into their office for a little…meeting. Of course she kept on smirking while he turned to the crew and got everyone's attention. "Alright everyone, on Dani's signal, release the meat!"

There was a quick flurry of movement as workers and onlookers grabbed their places. The Grady's had asked for complete silence during the exercise so as to not distract the raptors—or Owen.

Dani started to move back to her original spot, seeing Barry had already taken his place there. Hoskins had moved though. But before Dani got two steps she felt a familiar hand grab hold of her wrist and tug. She turned to find Owen watching her, his deep green eyes were soft and full of love. "Wish me luck?" He asked while pulling her towards him.

"You won't need it." She leaned up on her toes and placed a short, but deep kiss to his lips. "You've got this Owen."

* * *

 _Just a short little intro for everyone so we can get an idea of who Dani is and her relationship with Owen. What did everyone think? Head over to my tumblr page if you're interested! I'll be posting a lot of Evolve and Conquer related things on there and I am always willing to answer any of your questions!_

 _Thanks for reading! Review, fav and follow!_


	2. Pearl City

**Hello my lovelies! I cannot believe how much traffic the story got with only the first chapter! I loved seeing all the support and every time I got an email alert on my phone I couldn't help but smile! You are all so awesome! I am sorry this update took a while. I wasn't quite sure where to go or what to do with this chapter. I'm also trying to figure out how to make the main villain of this story a better villain than he ended up being in the movie. It's turning out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be but, I'll figure it out, no worries. Anyway I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter. In the future, chapters will either begin or end with a flashback of some sort. If I'm feeling chummy I might even put a flashback in the beginning AND ending of a chapter. Lol, we'll have to see. I'll stop talking now.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic World...I only own Dani...**

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PEARL CITY, O'AHU, HAWAII  
2008

Owen Grady could still smell the kennels on him. Even after taking a very long and very warm shower, he could swear still smelled like dog. Not that he didn't mind. He loved working with the dogs. He loved training them. He loved the animals and the trust that he built with them. Honestly sometimes Owen thought he got along better with dogs than humans. Dogs he understood. Humans? Those were a bit harder to figure out.

Take for example, the group across the bar from him. Pearl City wasn't known for its tourists—especially in the middle of the year—but occasionally there would be a group or several. This group was compiled of six women. Some had light burns on their backs and shoulders, some were drinking and a few had opted for a non-alcoholic drink. One of the girls shifted and Owen spotted a hot pink sash across her shoulders. "Bride-to-be!" Owen read in sparkling, white, swirling font. He couldn't help but grin. They looked like they were having a fun time. Laughing and drinking. Probably sharing stories. Sometimes a picture would be taken, sometimes a video. But they looked happy.

And Owen—for the life of him—could not understand why everyone else around him could be _that_ happy. Because, he was happy—right? He had a great job, a few good friends, and a nice place fairly close to the beach. What more could he ask for?

"You know if you stare at them long enough, they might work up the courage to come say hello."

A voice, sultry and smooth, half-startled him. Owen turned his head to find the source and felt his heart leap out of his throat. Whoa. She was…gorgeous. With bronze skin, chestnut brown hair, large, dark, almond shaped eyes. And that smile. No but it wasn't a smile really. It was more of a smirk. Playful yet inviting. She was wearing a yellow t-shirt with the bar's logo across the chest in bright blue, flashy lettering. _Akamu's Harbor_.

She gave him an expectant grin—almost like she was waiting for something—and then it hit him. "Oh. Uh," Owen chuckled and tried to forget that he'd just been literally staring at this girl—probably with his mouth wide open too. "I didn't want them to. I was just…watching I guess."

He half-expected her to laugh or call him a creep. But instead, she nodded as if she was agreeing with him. "Yeah I do that a lot too. People watching is sort of my past-time." She reached behind her, whipping out a towel from her back pocket and started to wipe down the bar and Owen couldn't keep his damned eyes off her. How come he'd never seen her before? He always came to this bar—it was the closest within walking distance of his house. But as he stared at her he started to remember her face. Vaguely at first and then it all clicked. She worked in the kitchen. He'd spotted her a few times through the serving window but for some reason hadn't thought much of her at the time. Owen mentally slapped himself. What the hell was wrong with him? This girl was absolutely stunning and he was just now seeing that? Maybe he needed to stop drinking so much…

"I'm sorry." He cleared his throat when she was finished with the bar, "But I didn't get your name."

"Oh," she actually smiled this time, "Danica but, everyone just calls me Dani. And that's Dani with an "I"."

Owen twisted his beer bottle between his fingers. It'd gotten warm and he barely touched it. "Dani with and "I". Well, Dani, it's nice to meet you."

"Glad to hear it. And you are…"

"Owen. I'm Owen—Grady. O-Owen Grady." He could feel the blush before it even started. It's not like this was the first attractive person to ever talk to him before. Owen had been on plenty of dates in the past. But no one had ever stunned him like Dani just did. And she wasn't even trying. She was just doing her job.

"Right." Dani snickered at him. "Owen. I like that name." She leaned against the bar, crossing her arms over the top. She was so close he could smell the sunscreen lingering on her skin. Dani gave him a lopsided smile, "Just a little warning Owen, women and bachelorette parties usually lead to guys like you. So, be careful. And try not to break anyone's heart tonight."

Owen ducked his head down to hide the blush on his cheeks and let out an awkward laugh. "No I," he picked his head back up but avoided her eyes, "I think I got my eyes set on another girl tonight."

Dani's brow rose up, "Really?" She sounded a bit surprised. And Owen almost looked away. He was so nervous— _why_ was he so nervous? He didn't want to have sex with her. Okay…he did but not like _that_. He just wanted to buy her a late dinner or coffee. People drink coffee after nine o'clock sometimes, right? Either way, he wanted to get to know her. He wanted to have an actual conversation with her. Not half-flirting at a bar. He still didn't look away from her. Owen forced himself to stare at her straight on and not move an inch.

She seemed to get the hint pretty quickly. This time it was Dani's turn to blush and she glanced down at her shoes for a moment. "Well…I know about this pretty good food truck that stays open until three in the morning. They've got some pretty good tacos."

Honestly he was so shocked he almost ignored her. Because she was saying yes? She'd literally just met him and she was going to say yes that easily?

"If it helps I've been watching you for a while." Dani shrugged and she started to blush again. "I was a dishwasher. Tonight's my first night behind the bar. That's probably why you've never seen me before."

"Oh." Owen replied, "Oh!" His brain finally caught up with the situation. "So…yes! Yes, tacos, food truck. Me and you. Owen and Dani—Dani and Owen." His hands were shaking—why were his hands shaking?

Dani giggled. She actually giggled and it was probably the cutest thing Owen had ever heard. "My shift is over pretty soon. Wait for me?"

* * *

ISLA NUBLAR  
PRESENT DAY

The paddock grew quiet. All movement ceased. Every worker, every man, every animal became still. Dani was pretty sure even the raptors grew still—at least for the moment. They were waiting for her now.

A sweaty hand slipped into her front pocket. Sunlight glinted off a silver whistle. It was _the_ whistle. Everyone who worked with the Grady's knew it. The raptors knew it. Hell, even the InGen guys knew it. This silver whistle had been the start—and end—of many things at the raptor paddock. Dani hoped today she'd only have to use it to start something. Ending other things usually led to bad days. And bad days on Isla Nublar were legendary.

Owen only had to glance at his wife and she knew that was her signal.

A short, shrill whistle echoed across the paddock followed by a loud squeal. "Meat's out!" Dani shouted, pocketing her whistle, clicking her pen and writing down the time. She kept her pen hovering over the paper and her eyes fixed to Owen. He stood ready on the catwalk with a clicker in one hand, his other at his side.

The small pig they'd used as "the meat" for a few weeks ran out into the open, following the path it knew would lead it to safety. Then Dani saw Blue run out of the vegetation followed quickly by her sisters, Charlie, Delta and Echo. Dani heard a metal hatch fall into place. The pig had gotten to safety. Good, they wouldn't need to take another meal from the T-Rex paddock and get those nasty glares from the workers again.

Blue shot towards the pig, determined to get her meal. "Ho!" Owen's voice—loud and firm—rang out against the paddock, instantly stopping Blue and the others soon followed her. Dani took note of their reaction time.

 _Blue, almost perfect reaction time. Charlie, Delta, Echo still follow Blue's lead despite best efforts._

She watched Blue's large claw tap and tap against the jungle floor and grinned.

 _Blue still impatient. Claw tapping._

The girls all searched for the source of the voice. _Raptors look for alpha. Must make eye contact._

"Hey!" Owen called down to the girls and they quickly found him. "Okay." Owen held up his right hand, palm facing out. It was his technique when training any animal. Give the animal a symbol or a sign to associate with "the alpha". With his other hand, Owen pulled out a clicker from behind his back. _Click, click._ "Eyes on me."

Dani chewed her pen nervously. The girls were still searching for the pig. Owen picked up on their inattention and responded to it quickly. "Blue." _Click, click._ "Blue!" After he raised his voice Blue finally looked up at him. "Watch it!" Owen ordered, pointing his finger at her.

 _Blue+clicker+firm tone=faster response time._

"Charlie—hey!" Dani looked up in time to see Charlie snap her jaw and hiss up at Owen, but she otherwise stayed in her spot. "Don't give me that shit." Owen snapped right back at her.

 _Charlie still stubborn—gives shit often._

"Delta!" The second youngest of the sisters was moving around excitedly. She was full of energy today and gave her head a quick shake. "Lock it up!"

 _Delta displays higher levels of energy. Perhaps need to reduce energy supplement levels in the future._

Owen paused for a second. And when he did, the girls did. "Good!" Dani could see him trying to fight back a smile. They'd learned early on that showing teeth to the raptors was a sign of self-defense or aggression. Finally the girls were still. All eyes were on Owen, and none were planning to move anytime soon.

 _Time to full attention, one minute, twenty-two second._ Dani shrugged. That was ten seconds less than yesterday. Maybe the girls were in a good mood today. "And…" Owen lifted his hand high above his head, "we're moving!" He started to crab-walk to his right, moving down the catwalk towards the food bucket Barry had filled earlier that morning. As they moved, Dani took note of the raptor's behaviors.

 _Charlie lashing at Delta. Blue lashing at Charlie for lashing at Delta. Echo snapped at Blue. Delta snapped at Echo. No signs of aggression. Girls are curious. Perhaps anxious._

"Ho!" Owen called again, coming to a stop by the food bucket. The girls stopped with him, going still again, keeping their eyes on him. "Okay that is good." Dani could hear the smile in Owen's voice, "That is damn good."

 _Full attention throughout exercise._

Owen bent forward and picked out a small, dead rat. _Click, click._ "Very good. See? Charlie, that's what you get!" He tossed the rat down and Charlie quickly jumped up, snatching her treat out of the air. Echo and Delta soon followed, eagerly taking their meals. Then the last one. Owen always saved the biggest rat for his beta. "Blue!" He lifted the large, white rat, catching eyes with Blue. She snapped her head up to him, patiently waiting for her turn. Owen showed the rat to her, "This one's for you." And then let the rat fly.

"Hold!" Owen quickly got the raptors to focus on him again. They watched him, ready for their next command. "Eyes up!" Owen lifted his hand up and the raptors followed him in near-perfect synch. Dani refrained from doing a little happy dance. They'd been trying that move for weeks with disastrous results.

 _Eyes up, success!_

"And…" Dani held her breath. Almost over. Owen made sure to catch each of his raptor's eyes before releasing them with a loud, "…go!" With that the girls took off into the foliage, probably on the hunt for more food.

Owen let his arms fall limp at his sides and let out a slow breath. His heart was pounding and he'd worked up quite the sweat. He could hear the girls running about below him. Blue squawked a few times and Charlie would reply with a couple of chirps. So caught up in the shock that the exercise had actually been a success, Owen didn't hear his wife's joyful hoot and holler, or her heavy steps running towards him. He only felt her arms clamp around his neck before he was finally able to get a handle on reality again.

"Oh my god!" Dani squealed and laughed. She just couldn't stop smiling! They'd been working on this for literally four years and finally after days in the hot sun, days spent pulling out her hair and threatening to quit her job and never come back to this stupid island, they'd finally done it. "Owen I can't believe it! I'm so proud of you!"

Her laughter was infectious and soon Owen was joining her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed before lifting Dani up and twirling her around. By the time he set her back down she was already rambling off about the next step.

"We need to try again, get more results. I need to record everything—times, emotional states of the girls, their diets for the week, how they were acting before and after the exercise." She took a shaky breath, "We need to try individual runs now. Work with each of the girls alone. I need to record how they work without the pack—with just the alpha—one on one…"

Owen laughed again and this time put a gentle hand over her mouth. "How about for now we relax." Dani rolled her eyes but Owen ignored that and continued, "For tonight. And then tomorrow we can start everything you just said."

He got a reluctant nod from her. It was all he would get for now but it was enough. Dani had been working on this little exercise from basically day one on the island. They'd also just proven almost half of the archaeological community wrong. He hoped that would make his wife want to have at least one celebratory drink.

Slowly, he lowered his hand from her mouth. But Dani could only stay silent for so long. Not even three seconds later she started to talk about her new experiments again. "But if we could just isolate the—"

"Okay Doctor Grant." Barry put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a pointed look. "Your husband just did something everyone thought impossible. I think we should sit back and celebrate that for a moment."

"Don't bring Alan into this." Dani put on a playful scowl, "I am nothing like the old man—in fact I'm completely different from him."

Owen shrugged, "That's not what everyone else says."

"Just because I was his protégée doesn't mean—"

"Owen!" A voice Dani had hoped she wouldn't be hearing again echoed against the paddock walls. She looked over her shoulder and found Hoskins sauntering towards the catwalk. He chuckled and patted the shoulders of the men standing at the edge of the catwalk. Dani scoffed. This guy was such a salesman it was almost _laughable_. He also didn't seem to realize that everyone that worked at the paddock—although hired by InGen—absolutely hated InGen. Whenever InGen sent one of their big corporate guys to the paddock to "observe" it was never a fun day. At least not until the InGen guys left. Then it would be all shit-talk about whoever had been there and "did you see his face when?" and "he smelled like corporate this or that".

Dani just wanted him gone. But she had a feeling Hoskins was going to stick around for a few days…or several. Especially after seeing the successful exercise. Hoskins slowly ascended the steps of the catwalk, pointing his finger at the Grady's and Barry. His smile was blindingly white, and his forehead was glistening with sweat. He came to a stop in front of them, his burly hands settling on his hips. "I was afraid we'd made a mistake hiring you three. I mean, two no-name archaeologists and a retired navy vet? Who'd have thought you could get these animals to practically eat out of the palm of your hand."

Barry and Dani shared a look but otherwise stayed quiet. Hoskins was, after all, InGen. And no matter how much they disliked InGen—that company signed their checks and let them keep this job. So Dani bit her tongue and let Owen speak. Thankfully, her husband could see how difficult that was for her. She felt Owen's hand against her back and let him hold the conversation.

"Well you came on a good day." Owen put on his most charming smile, "These don't usually end well."

Dani watched her husband and Hoskins share a firm handshake. She watched Hoskins with a careful, scrutinizing eye. _I wonder if he actually reads National Geographic or if he just looks at the pretty pictures._ She chewed her lip to refrain from frowning at the man. How could he just call her a no-name archaeologist like that? She wasn't a no-name. Not really…

"Is that why you've been too busy to send in your reports?" Hoskins didn't mess around it would seem. He'd barely buttered them up before getting straight to business.

"We've been busy." Barry answered. Dani could feel him standing behind her. Of course they'd been busy. They all worked basically non-stop at the paddock. Sending in reports was an afterthought. Also Dani may or may not have ordered everyone at the paddock to basically ignore InGen but that was beside the point.

"What, too busy to cash in your paychecks?" Hoskins did a playful one-two punch towards Barry but it was obvious Barry didn't appreciate it. And neither did Dani. Barry stood to his full height while Dani moved so she was further blocking Hoskins. Owen shifted his weight to one foot and sunk back until his arm was against Dani's shoulder. For a moment Dani realized how much she and Owen and Barry were acting like a pack. She made a mental note to write that down when she finds her clipboard.

"Alright." Owen was able to reign Hoskins back in. "What do you need buddy?" Dani almost chuckled. Owen only ever called people 'buddy' when he wanted them to stop bothering him.

Hoskins paused, as if he knew what he was about to say would get him absolutely nowhere, and looked to Dani. She was the lead scientist at the paddock—and technically everyone's boss. What he was about to ask for would ultimately be her decision. "I need a field test."

This time Dani actually did scoff, "Yeah. Not happening." With that she turned on her heel and started walking towards the opposite side of the catwalk. Barry left to collect the empty food buckets along the catwalk. Dani couldn't blame him for finding something else to do. She really didn't want to have this conversation. Luckily, Owen had decided to stick with her. He was her number two and all decisions regarding the paddock and the girls were made by both Owen and Dani. Neither chose to do something without the other's opinion.

The catwalk was just wide enough for three people to walk together. It was a snug walk, but Dani wasn't next to Hoskins and that's all she really cared about. "Look, I've just seen that they can respond to commands." Hoskins gestured down towards the greenery. "You need to take your research and get it out there and on its feet."

Dani and Owen kept walking. "They're wild animals Hoskins—trust me—you don't want them in a field." Owen said and turned to his wife knowing she was just aching to rip Hoskins a new one for asking for a field test.

She looked across Owen to Hoskins, "And they're not just any wild animal Hoskins. These are dinosaurs. There's over seventy –five million years of evolution between us and them and you think they're just going to respond to every command like a trained lion? That's not how these animals work. You don't just tell them to do something. You ask them and they choose to follow or not."

"Yes that's true." They were coming up to the opposite side of the paddock. Hoskins jumped up to stop in front of the Grady's. "It's a bond. And what I just saw was exactly that. A relationship between man," he pointed to Owen, "and beast." He pointed back down to the greenery.

"You're in our way." Owen commented but Hoskins just ignored him and continued his sales pitch.

"Come on Owen." Now Hoskins was going to try to appeal to her husband. Dani rolled her eyes. "We're the same—we're dogs of war. We know that the military needs to reduce casualties. Some people think that robots are the future."

Dani knew exactly where he was going with this and had heard enough. She didn't even have to look at Owen to know that he felt the same way. They both walked around Hoskins. But he persisted. "Look, nature gave us the most effective killing machines, seventy-five million years ago and now we know they can take orders."

Owen saw Barry coming to join them again and stopped. He hoped having Barry be a part of this conversation would help to deter Hoskins even more. Dani and Barry were the scientists. Owen was the "dog of war".

"Finally make progress and this is the first thing he says?" Barry pointed at Hoskins before moving to flank Owen, "Build a weapon?"

For a moment Hoskins' face fell. Maybe Owen's plan would actually work. With three opposing figures it was hard to keep going on a sales pitch. "Oh come on gentlemen—and lady." Never mind. It seemed the guy wasn't going to be quitting anytime soon. Dani turned and started to lead everyone away. A part of her was hoping Hoskins would get lost up on the catwalks but they were far too easy to follow. "It's grown-up time. Drones can't search tunnels, and caves—and they're hackable. The minute a real war breaks out all that fancy tech is gonna go dark."

Owen shrugged, "True. But that fancy tech's not gonna eat them when they forget to feed it."

"Alright. Look at these creatures." Hoskins stopped when they were halfway across the wall, pointing down towards the paddock floor where the girls had gathered to see what all the movement was for. Blue and Delta were curiously looking up towards their alpha and the others. "They've got millions of years of instinct in their cells—instinct that we can program. Their loyalty cannot be bought. These guys are gonna run straight into the enemies teeth and eat em'. Belt buckle and all."

Barry leaned against the railing. "And what if they decide they want to be in control?"

"Well then we remind them who is." Hoskins explained, like it was so simple. "Terminate the rouges. Promote only loyal bloodlines."

"Jesus Hoskins." Dani scoffed, hearing Barry let out a low chuckle. She could handle him making the animals seem like they were just weapons and tool to be used. But talking about loyalty like it's a thing that can be inherited and not learned? Has he ever actually watched their training exercises before? She looked over at Hoskins, "You really don't know what you're talking about."

"What?" He actually seemed a little baffled for once. Dani scoffed and walked away from him going towards a worker with an empty food bucket. She grinned and held out her hand for the bucket, still within ear-shot of her husband and Hoskins.

"I don't know," Owen sounded like he was trying to explain something to a child. "You come here and don't learn anything about these animals except what you want to know. You made them and now you think you own them."

"We do own them." Dani almost threw the bucket at his head. "Extinct animals have no rights." Now she really almost threw the bucket at his head. Thankfully another one of her employees came up to distract her. She grinned at him and took his bucket and bit her tongue. Just don't say anything and he'll go away faster.

"They're not extinct anymore." She heard Owen say and felt her chest swell with pride. He'd learned so much since they first started working on the island. Owen turned and headed towards her, taking one of the empty buckets from her hands and letting Dani lead the way down the large set of steps towards the jungle floor.

"Exactly." Hoskins called after them, following close behind. "We're sitting on a goldmine here. Now, Masrani is using it to…stock a petting zoo."

Dani's feet hit the first landing, "You make that sound like it's a bad thing." She heard Owen behind her,

"He just wants to teach people some humility—he doesn't make weapons."

Hoskins let out a loud, roaring laugh as they started down the final flight of stairs. "You think that the eighth richest man in the world is only into oil, telecom and family-fun parks? Masrani is so diversified even he doesn't know what he owns."

Dani let out a loud, dramatic sigh. "How long have you and InGen been practicing this sales pitch?"

"Since the day we hired you out of grad school." They got to the ground and the Grady's went straight towards another gate, quickly opening and shutting the gate. Hoskins stood just outside the thick metal gate, leaning his arms against the grating. "Look, Owen, you've known the end game since day one. These animals could replace thousands of boots on the ground." Dani hit a button, effectively locking the gate. "How many lives would that save?"

Now he was going to try to appeal to their humanity? Good grief. Dani took Owen's and her empty buckets, placing them on a low lying table near the gate. Before the crack of dawn the buckets would be filled again. Dani pulled a clipboard off a hook above the table. It was a chart of each of the girl's specific dietary intake. There were fresh pages on the board and Dani started to scribble in the amount of vitamins and other supplements she wanted in each girl's morning meal. She kept all the diets essentially the same. Only Echo got a bit more protein then Blue due to her smaller size. Blue got the most balanced of the vitamins—but Dani decided to cut back on the fiber and vitamin C for tomorrow morning. Charlie would get an extra helping of vitamin D and calcium. Delta would be getting a small dosage of iron as well to help with her slightly low blood pressure reading earlier today.

"War is a part of nature." She heard Hoskins say as she scribbled on the paper in front of her. Goodness would he ever stop? "Look around us Owen, every living thing in this jungle is trying to murder the other." Dani shook her head in disbelief, replacing the clipboard to the hook it belonged to and turning to help Owen prepare the harnesses. By nightfall the girls would be brought into the harnesses to take final readings of their blood pressures and other vital signs. They were constantly recording everything about the animals—per Dani's orders. Obviously watching the girls and writing down every little detail about them had paid off.

"Mother nature's way of testing her creations." Hoskins was still talking. Dani looked over her shoulder at him as he continued. "Refining the pecking order. War is a struggle. Struggle breeds greatness." She stopped working and moved to stand in front of the gate, her hands resting on her hips. "Without that…we end up with places like this where we charge seven bucks a soda."

"Actually it's eight bucks a soda—water is seven bucks." Her little quip got Hoskins to shut up for a minute. Maybe he wasn't expecting humor out of her. Either way, Dani took her chance to throw in a bit more sass. "Now tell me Hoskins, when you speak, do you hear yourself or do you just keep talking and hope for the best?"

Hoskins was grinning but it wasn't out of laughter. He looked like he was sizing her up for a second. "This is gonna happen Danica." The first time he'd addressed her by name since the exercise. "With or without you and your men. Progress always wins."

Dani made a small 'humph' but didn't respond. If she did she'd probably get herself fired. "Maybe progress should lose for once." She could have kissed her husband right then and there if Hoskins wasn't watching. Because Owen had just made Hoskins go quiet again and it was beautiful.

But her admiration was cut short. There was a loud clang behind her, and then she heard a high pitched squeal. "Pig's out! Pig's out!" Dani, Owen and Hoskins all turned when they heard a voice echo across the paddock grounds.

"Damnit I thought Richie fixed the pig pen door." Dani cursed as she watched the little piglet scramble across the ground. This same thing has happened before and it was easy to catch the meat, but it was still troublesome. It also meant Dani would have to inspect the pig pen herself. Another thing added to her long to-do list.

As was procedure when the pigs got lose, a worker would use an extended snatcher and grab the pig while it ran through the lasso at the end. Dani looked up to see their newest employee—Adam was his name—run towards the middle of the catwalk and lean over the side, preparing to catch the pig. It was all going rather smoothly—and then it all fell apart.

Echo came out of nowhere. She was known as the pack's fastest runner and she'd just proven that. Dani only had to blink before Echo was in and out, the pig squealing and struggling between her teeth. But it wasn't the pig Dani was worried about. It was Adam. When Echo had grabbed hold of the pig, she tugged on the extender, effectively knocking Adam off his balance and pulling him over the side of the catwalk. He fell on the ground hard, letting out a loud "oof!" and immediately got the attention of the raptors.

"Oh shit!" Dani cried out, running up to the gate with Owen. Adam was only a few feet away, he was disorientated and out of breath but he was just right there. "Open the gate Owen." Dani's voice was low but she spoke quickly. They only had seconds to decide what to do.

"What the hell are you—"

"You can stop them." She quickly answered. They were both standing on the balls of their feet, ready to jump to action. "Do it!" Dani cried when she saw Owen hesitate, "I'll get the kid."

She thought she heard Owen let out a low curse but her adrenaline was pumping and all she was focused on at the moment was her employee scrambling backwards towards the gate. Owen threw his hand against the controls, the gate's buzzer sounding off louder than he expected. The gate began to rise and both Owen and Dani crouched down, crawling underneath the raising gate.

"Owen! Dani! Stop!" They heard Barry somewhere behind them but the Grady's weren't going to stop. They had a mission.

They got under the gate and sprinted towards Adam and the slowly approaching raptors. Owen heard the distinct sound of rifles and the safety of several guns being clicked off. He glanced up; saw a couple of guards aiming their tranquilizers at the animals. "Whoa no!" Owen held up a hand towards the guards, still running towards the raptors, "Hold your fire!"

Blue and Charlie were the two closest to Adam. Owen charged until he was right in front of the raptors, bending at the waist so he was at eye-level with the girls and holding out his hands towards them. _Get down to their level; give them a symbol to watch for. Don't show your teeth. Don't break eye contact._

His mind was racing while he heard Dani shouting up at the men to hold their fire as well. "I swear to God if any of you shoot these animals and ruin four years of work I will kick you off this island myself!" She'd slid to her knees in front of the scrambling worker, and grabbed hold of his leg making him freeze in place.

 _No sudden movements._

Dani glanced over her shoulder and saw Barry waiting anxiously by the gate controls. "Barry." She whispered and when he looked at her she pointed to Adam. "Alright go." Dani pushed the kid away from her and moved to stand behind Owen.

"Dani get behind the gate." It took her a moment to register what he'd just said. His voice was low and careful, but there was an edge to it. She'd never heard Owen talk like that before.

"What? Owen I'm not leaving you—"

" _Danica please_." He didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to. There was enough urgency in his half-whisper to let Dani know that he was not going to ask again. This was something he needed her to do.

Reluctantly, Dani started to back up towards the gate. She felt Barry's hand grab her arm and pull her towards him. They were both breathing hard, and sweating profusely. This was insane. There was no way the raptors were ready for eye-level interaction like this. But Owen had no other choice. He either tried to get the girls to back off, or turn tail and run and get Barry, the kid and even his wife hurt or worse.

"Blue." Owen watched the girl's curious eyes follow after Dani and the kid. "Blue," he tried again and this time she looked at him, "stand down." Her head tilted to the side and she blinked. "Stand down." Owen tried again. He didn't have his clicker and he didn't have any food. It would be near impossible to get the girls to listen to him without those tools. Blue gave her head a quick shake and then squawked at him, throwing out her head and snapping her jaw in his direction.

"Hey, hey!" Owen raised himself a few inches, now only his knees were slightly bent. He had a vague memory of one of Dani's theories running through his head. _Standing at full height in front of the raptors might show a sign or superiority. Maybe when we get down to eye-level it's almost a show of compliance—not authority._ He certainly hoped that theory was correct now. "What did I just say?" Owen let his voice get growly and deep. Now he was using techniques from his days in the navy. Stern face and stern voice equals authority.

"Delta!" He held out his second hand to his left, "I see you. Back up!" Now that he was employing all of these techniques, the raptors seemed to be having a slight problem with accepting it. Probably because being this close to each other was just as new to them as it was to him. Delta's answer was a loud, annoyed roar at him. But she was staying in place and that was good enough for Owen.

"Okay." Owen took a small step back and the raptors followed. "Good, good." Two more steps and the raptors were still following. "Charlie." He saw Charlie's pale green skin moving out of the corner of his eye and moved a hand in front of her. Owen turned and locked eyes with her, "Stay right there."

The girls had finally come to a stop—now that Owen wasn't moving anymore. Why wasn't he moving? "Close the gate." Oh, that's why.

"Owen Grady are you insane?!" Dani barely raised her voice but it was enough to get the raptor's attention. Any other day and she would have noted that the girls seem to have a surprising connection to her. But today all she could think was, _oh crap_.

"Hey! Hey!" Owen shouted again, the raptors slowly returning their attention to him. Blue's eyes lingered on Dani a bit longer than she'd have liked. She'd have to write down some notes about that later. "Dani, just trust me okay?" Owen was really going to get it when he was safe.

"Close the gate!" Adam, the kid, squeaked from his spot on the ground. He was still shaking and looked as white as a sheet.

"Barry…" Dani didn't really have to say anything else. Barry knew what he needed to do. That didn't mean he was going to like it though. Dani heard him let out a curse in his native French before the buzzer of the gate went off. She held her breath and waited for what felt like far too long. Owen was taking too long to run—he wasn't going to make it!

Owen could feel sweat dripping down his back. Wearing this vest really wasn't the best of ideas. He took one, two, three tiny steps backwards. Never dropping his hands or his eyes. He just needed one opening. One small opening and then he could turn tail and bolt.

One second. He needed to time it just right.

Two seconds. If he moved too soon and the girls would get through the gate.

Three seconds. If he moved too late, well. He was really glad he took out that life insurance policy after they started working on the island.

Four seconds. He could hear Blue's claws clicking together impatiently.

Five seconds.

Owen dug his foot into the ground and turned, pushing off with as much strength as he could muster. He rolled and landed hard on his backside, hands covered with dirt and grime, sweat making his shirt stick to his back. Owen wasn't sure if he'd made it or not until he heard a very loud set of metallic clangs. Owen was jerked up to his feet by a pair of strong hands. He looked up and saw Barry pulling him away from the gate. The closed gate.

He'd made it. Barry let out a relived sigh and smiled at his friend before being practically shoved away by Dani. She jumped up, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing hard. Owen readily returned the embrace, feeling his wife's trembling body in his arms. And he had to admit he was shaking as well.

"Damnit Owen." Dani breathed heavily into his neck. She didn't want to let go of him ever again. In fact, she didn't want him anywhere near the raptors ever again. But she knew that was just her being silly and childish. Still didn't change how she felt at that moment though. "Please," Dani pulled away from him, cupping her hands around his jaw, "don't ever ask me to leave you like that again."

All Owen could do was nod and pull her into another hug. What else was he going to do? He couldn't make a promise like that. Because he didn't want to. If Owen was ever in a situation where he had to choose dying with his wife, or dying to save his wife, he would always choose the latter. Even if Dani hated him for it—he would never let her die with him. The thought of Dani dying was just too hard to accept.

They stayed in their embrace for a few seconds longer. Dani was the first to step away, wiping at a stray tear on the corner of her eye. She let Owen place a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead before turning to the still sitting Adam.

Dani cleared her throat to get his attention. "You're…you're the new kid right? Adam?"

Adam simply nodded in response. Probably too shocked to say anything still. Dani wiped at her brow, "Right. You ever wonder why you got hired so quickly?" She tried to make a joke but it was way too soon. Adam just stared up at her with wide eyes. Dani cleared her throat again. Awkward. "Well uh in the future, don't ever turn your back to the cage."

The kid turned and saw a raptor sticking her nose through a slot in the cage. Her claws clicked and scraped against the metal. It was Charlie. Of course it would be Charlie. Dani let out a shaky sigh before bending down to help the kid stand up.

What she didn't see was Owen stopping in his tracks or Hoskins grinning like he'd just proven his point. Because he had, hadn't he? Owen had shown leadership over the raptors in a stressed and out of control situation. The Grady's had basically just proven InGen right and themselves wrong.

* * *

 _Hoskins is such a jerk. But anyway what did you all think? Good? Bad? A little bit of both? Also for those that are interested, I made a playlist for the story! There will be a link to the playlist on my profile page. Go check it out and if anyone has any suggestions for the playlist I would love to hear them! The playlist is kind of scarce and definitely needs more songs. Thanks for reading!_

 _Review, fav and follow!_


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